easyJet Morale Rock Bottom
 

Morale rock bottom at easy due derisory pay and conditions changes soon to be announced.

Fat cat management laughing all the way to the bank with pilots and cabin crew working to maximum FTL.

Effective cut in overall package being kept under wraps by senior management until they can decide how to sell it to the pilot workforce.

Potential industrial action by up to 49% of pilots looming.

Many size 9s thinking of walking.

M

Glad to see someone's happy..

I think its !!!!ty of the EZY management to behave in this way right now. They know that the industry is facing possible downturn again thanks to Saddam, George W, Tony, et al.......and that very, very few carriers are at present recruiting in significant numbers.

Accordingly, although it would be nice to be able to do so, I don't think that as many size 9's will be walking as one would like to think. The package may be terrible, but under current economic situation, it is probably the case that most will stay put in the meantime.....until the storm is ridden out.

Industrial action - why not? A few sporadic days of decimated schedules will surely make the fat ones sit up and take a bit of notice.............or a mass viral infection to sweep through the Company rendering all of the pilots unfit to fly............hmmmmm

very doubtful that in times of challenging employment situations with extensive leisure effects people step out of any kind of job unless they have something else secured...and the beancounters work on this fact.

Employers screw workers all the time to keep the profits healthy - whether you are flying shiney, new Boeings or selling newspapers at the corner on the high street it is just the same means to an end.

And a strike increases losses, or decreases profits thus hitting the beancounters bottom line - the same bottom line used to calculate staff (including pilots) salary increases.

Think on boys (and girls)

rt

Morale pretty low on the dole queue too:(

Ah you poor wee things you. Morale low heh, ah what a shame, awful people expecting you to work to the limit eh. So what do you expect? Join the real world laddie.

Well said seriph. not so long ago any criticism of easy or its pilots was met with a smug arrogance and accusation about sour grapes. no sympathy here.
and no i wasnt refused, i havent even applied. too much like the "prisoner" tv series, all roses until you question the hip orange culture , then a visit from a big orange bouncy balloon.

you pays yer money you take yer chances.

Seems to me that Max Factor`s morale is always at rockbottom. A real profi whinger - must be fun to fly with him. Oh yes - and a bit of a one track lobbier too...

I have a few comments after reading the above,

1. Morale does not have to be low when working for an LCA! The excellent roster practices employed at GO are testament to the fact that stable, acceptable rosters are possible and yet still work to the FTL.

2. GO had very healthy profits without screwing the workforce.

3. Why should it be an automatic conclusion that to improve ones working enviroment that to "walk" is the only option.

4. Industrial action should not be discounted just because of the present aviation climate. No one would wish to go on strike but for management to take notice then this threat must be employed and that the majority of pilots are prepared to back action should it be necessary. Easyjet nor Ryanair can suddenly conjure up several hundred 737 pilots. We have the power NOT management!

5. If the employers wish to screw the workers then they will not have a profitable company as a result.


The morale at GO was very high before the takeover. Many are worried that we are slipping towards a Ryanair attitude to staff. This fear is not allayed by Mr Websters' remarks made in a recent Telegraph interview denegrating Cassani. She was respected by all at GO. Remarks against her are more likely to alienate his new workforce. Not a clever move by a CEO.
Indeed if we could swap Cassani for Webster we would all have a brighter future!!!

And now I have just read the last two replies and wonder why I bother posting anything on this forum. Oh well.......

Simple unadulterated fact(s)...
In the present economic climate, management calls the shots, like it or not...and many won't.

Wait for better times if you want to move employers or take industrial action...simple as that.

Have often wondered why so-called professional pilots cannot understand these very basic principles.
Put on your oxy masks guys and wake up.
It ain't gonna change ANYTIME soon.

PS: Even the HKAOA guys are starting to wake up...and about time too.:rolleyes:

:( You think its bad at Easy, believe me you guys are on a hell of a lot better wickit than we are, but I do understand where you are comming from.
Look on the bright side, you could be worse off, chin up...;)

Irony
 

Am I the only person to have read this thread with an easyjet recruitment banner at the top of the page? :rolleyes:

Firstly, I'd much rather be with Easy than out of work at the moment!

That said I do have every sympathy with low morale in a Company having been there myself. The commonest reason for staff to leave an organisation is "lack of recognition" - pay and conditions rarely are the main reason.

I was recently talking to a friend who is not in the airline business who was complaining bitterly about his job etc. After a while I asked him what he liked about his job. His initial reply was "Nothing". I then asked them if they paid him - "Yes" he replied so I said well there's one good thing about your job. I then asked him about the people he was working with. "A great team - I really like working with them". Do you like the job itself "Yes - I actually love it". So, I said, there are at least three good things about your job: a) they pay you, b)you are working with a good team of people and c) you like the job!!

I am not one of those people that believes positive thinking enables you to turn everything around but it certainly will enable you to do everything better than employing negative thinking!

I know that some of the managment styles out there are pretty appalling but think not what your Company can do for you but what you can do for your Company! With the "lack and limitation programming " that exists in the "datasphere" it is so easy to get caught up in the mindset that there is no way anyone can help to improve things. Step up to a higher standard - don't lose your cool - make sure than you keep communicating with the Company and let them know how you feel but at all times maintain your posture - act professionally even if the Company doesn't.

Reading an accident report for an easyjet flight at http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk/bulletin/sep02/gezyb.htm it stated that the captain had flown 91 hours in the last 90 days of which 34 hours had been flown in the last 30 days. Good job if you can get one.

I think the truly offensive thing about this is the 'spin' put on by the managers at easyJet. Their 'head-in-the-sand' attitude displays either incredible ignorance of what's going on in their airline, or utter stupidity in their approach to 'managing' it.

With the inspirational Stelios gone, those calling the shots lack credibility, respect, ability, and even basic management skills.

The remarks about Barbara (above) are spot on. She used her vision, drive, and principles to build a fine airline. So did Stelios. He stepped out, she stood for what she believed in and had to let go.

My only question is, whether the airline's founder will grasp the nettle and set about re-building the business? He built the brand in a magnificent manner, and should keep a close watch on a potential failure.

Meanwhile, those 'at the sharp end' and 'down the back' slave on. I believe they'd be a lot happier if the bosses came out with the truth and said 'we don't value you, we're going to work you into the ground, and we'll pay you as little as we can get away with'. At least, there would be some honesty then... (and honesty is a good first step on the road to respect).

Seriph What an unpleasant individual you are. I assume you are not a Pilot as otherwise you would have some sympathy with anyone expected to work to limits of CAP 371,in whatever company they work for. CAP 371 has been hijacked by the Airlines as a limit to work to which was never the intention but the CAA which is paid for by the Airlines has never had the bottle to take on the Airlines who cry poverty at every opportunity.

NorthernSky has got it about right. Unfortunately most managers have come to the airline from other management postions and have little experience in running an airline, and even less in flying aircraft. How often have you had a manager on the jump seat who has no idea of what is going on in the cockpit?

It is unlikely that Stelios will be able to do as much for the company in the future. Go fly to Italy and easy have not been doing so up till now because of the legal problems Stelios has in Italy. Therefore with the Go takeover he has to back off from the running of the company now, or the Italians may impound some of easy/Go's aircraft.

How things change eh?

This thread proves the theory that being an airline pilot is as paradoxical as it can get. To have so much responsibility yet treated with such little respect. Show me another job that has so many lives to safeguard and such little respect from those that entrust you with them. Ask yourself why a pilot, who proves his ability on a 6 monthly basis, feels it necessary to speak of industrial action? Could it be that he feels that without respect he has no other response to use?

For the 'seriphs' out there, the reason we whinge so much is because individuals like you prod us with tactless comments like yours, thus lowering our opinion of you (a manager I presume?) even more. Get back to your 'powerpoint' presentations and shove them next to the Major Incident File to gather dust....

As the integration of Go into easy progresses slowly, non flying 'orange' staff are being re-interviewed for their own jobs. Some loyal staff are finding themselves now out of work.

Such are the wide differences between terms and conditions of staff at Go and easy, the Go brand may well live on for some good while! Assimilation could prove rather costly! Allegedly!

Morale is now rock bottom at Go.

We are coming to terms with going orange- but it all seems to be going back 4 years at Go. Every thing Go perfected is out the door- not to mention easyJets old fashioned SOPs!

What we need is Babs to start a new airline up- and we are all off! Then hopefully turn around and **** on Ray Websters grave....

Not to sure why easyJet bought Go? For Pilots and Crew? Well they want to walk.......... ;)

Perhaps morale isn't helped by people whingeing, carping, complaining and trying to discredit the company and its management. If you really feel that strongly, why not do everyone a favour and do what you're thinking of - walk! Otherwise, why not behave like a professional pilot, get on with the job and try to get things changed in a proper way. Fireflybob seems to have the right attitude, so take a leaf out of his book, especially the last paragraph of his post - it's very good advice.

Alt Intervene,

you are right.... we are lucky to still be in jobs- and in the best place. If the gulf war kicks off- then it's good bye BA and all the major jobs- I think easyJet/Go have a fantastic future over them.

Lets hope the dust settles over the takeover soon ;)

:rolleyes: Goforfun how can you call the Easy SOPs dated after operating to the stoneage BA SOPs ?

Noflare, hardly stoneage, just different, and arguably somewhat better than Std Boeing. Most who joined Go from other companies now say they far prefer the Go style of operating. I have not heard one person say they prefer Boeing. What does that tell you?

How dare you say I'm a horrible individual, my children think I'm great, as does the wife most of the time. That is when I can get out of the tailored shirt with lots of gold on it, black pants with BIG silver buckle, drag the huge watch of my arm and tone down on the old Chuck Yeager drawl.

BustertheBear

Interviews for duplicate jobs is an inevitable part of joining any two organisations together. There has been a reasonable balance, I would argure, between easy and Go staff getting key positions in the Company. There will of course be some who chose not to move to LTN, regretable but again inevitable I'm afraid. The merger is in fact moving ahead well and the targets for combined AOC etc are on schedule. The paint scheme for the Go aircraft begins in a month or so, so I am afraid, and with due respect to the Go brand, it will start to fade from sight over this next 4 to 5 months.

Morale low?, if you believe what you read in these pages perhaps, however, I notice that the Go staff working on the transformation seem very positive and keen to move ahead. I'm not suggesting that there isn't regret at the loss of the Go brand, however, I do think most now accept the merger and are looking to the future.

GoforFun

Not so! much of Go will move into the combined airline, think about it. A goodnumber of the Directors and senior managers are appointed from Go, they are not going to change their spots over night. In fact, from the begining, it was always said that we are combining the best of both.

I also look positively to the future of the business potential of the new easyjet.
But, I don't however think it's the GO brand that our GO colleagues are really lamenting the departure of - it's the GO culture, or more poignantly, the culture easyjet had 3 years ago but have systematically diluted since with beancouting precision.

As for the transformation team, well I'd be pretty euphoric about it all as well if I was on the fat end of a 10 miilion windfall.

But it has to be said, at the end of it the city will smile - and who really gives a damn about anything else (except the rest of us)

buzid

Might you well rue the loss of the Go culture, you certainly had an fine leader in Babs, but stay in this business long enough as I'm sure you know and something is bound to change. My reference to the transformation team was not with regard to senior managers and directors but to everyone who's working on this merger, they are not all at the end of the incentive scheme.

Yak pilot is quite correct, we had a very happy company with highly motivated staff increasingly rewarded and acknowledged for a job well done. Cassani knew how to run a successful company. May I humbly suggest that Webster et al at easyjet eat some humble pie and take many leaves out of Cassanis book. The best of both we keep getting told. Starting with rostering and staff travel perhaps easy could actually begin to do what they say they are going to do. Old fashioned them and us management will fail the combined company and a large number of people will suffer. Easy management.....wakey,wakey.

I quite agree,

One thing has certainly been surprisingly good about GO is that when being at work there has never been a glimmer of whingeing about the company - until the merger. Even then, any concern expressed has been about the attitude of easy management to their flying staff and equally importantly the rostering situation within easy. This has come from former easy people(not long since they left the orangery) and from the rest of us since the highly publicised rostering debacle.

May I suggest that, should any people of influence be reading this thread, they seriously look at the causes of discontent and concern amongst a significant portion of their revenue earners and try to address them with the view of long term staff contentment and profitability, not next years squeezing a few extra quid out of the poor b****rds.

I'd like to offer a very good idea- Operationally driven rosters and their inherant stability. It has worked like a dream with GO this summer and I think it has been fantastic! I've never had the roster stability like it before, I've got a social life again, I (and my family) are very happy with it and that's with working 85+ hrs per 28 days on average as well- so it can't be inneficient or unprofitable either.

As the stated aim of the merger is to take best practice, I wonder whether easy will take on the GO rostering system or not. If it comes down to the bean counters, I'd love to hear their take on the merits of disaffecting a large proportion of their staff versus some dogmatic adherance to a system. Why nail your colours to a mast without a really good reason?

Oh and in reply to those who may say that the easy rostering system is more cost effective - I've yet to be told this by any one from within the organisation, please communicate this through the proper channels to let us know and how!

I am an optomist and would like to remain so after the dust has settled. It would be nice if easy lead a willing staff into the future.

p.s I'm writing this at a very unsociable hour due to my young baby keepng me awake- oh well you can't have it all!

Easyjet have a very strange manner for a company that is going to need to recruit more pilots and C/C in the not too distant future to stay in line with expansion.

I appreciate that there will always be the new pilots who are deperate for a job (as we all were once) and will join this company, but who in their right minds would want to join this shambles.

I have four good mates that work for EJ, both C's and F/O's who absoulutely hate it and will leave as soon as the time is right. What happens then? There is only a certain amount of money you can then throw at the problem (golden hello's) to get out of the mess.

I work for a company who have tried this line to a point and have realised very quickly that being at odds with flight crew is not the way to go.

Who the hell would EVER want to join this company out of choice, i.e. two job offers on the table?? I mean no offence to existing EJ pilots as I appreciate that you can't always help the way your management decide to go.

For the first time ever when a long term colleague telephoned me the other day to ask if he should join easyJet I found myself dissuading him.
In the past I have always been able with good conscience to recommend my present Company. In this case however even though he was Boeing qualified and a line trainer with his present company, I could not.
Much later I reflected on the conversation and was saddened.

So why do the easyjet guys accept the current situation?
Do they think that because they are working in the low cost sector that it is not possible to enjoy the job?
I hope the more contact easy pilots have with those from Go will bring a realisation that it is possible to enjoy the work, have a home life and a good salary!
It can be achieved but only if we ensure that it is achieved.

Personally I do not wish to work anywhere else. Long haul is not my thing nor charter operations. I have spent so many nights in airport hotels over the years that I would loath anything that takes me back to that kind of lifestyle. It has been so long since I did a nightstop that I cannot remember where my last one was. So, I am here to stay but guys please do not sit back and let easy remain a company where you too would find it difficult to recommend it to a colleague!

I have been at easyJet for five years through lots of changes, and the really annoying thing about it is that it could be a really good airline. The pilots are excellent, the routes interesting and the aircraft reliable (particularly the -700's) Unbeknownst to the manangement, they have a lot of staff who still care about the place.
We are let down so badly by our own management, who unfortunately do not do as they say.
When we lost loads of drivers about three years ago due to poor rostering and low pay, it was decided to keep the pay similar to Ryannair to stop people leaving and avoid expensive retraining. The pay has been slipping backwards ever since, the rostering has had momenets of madness and we are sent video's telling us how important we are, but are overlooked when it comes time to hand out a bonus for the Go deal, the value of the company being what we made it. The April pay deal has not yet been agreed and threatens to linger on to Christmas or beyond, then the rumours are sent out by the FOM that we will not be backpaid the full amount as they cannot afford it; wait till the record profit announcement in November!!!!
Pilots will continue to vote with their feet, and I believe many will do so, as trust has been lost forever. You may get treated like cr@p elsewhere, but at least you expect it!!!!!

I told you so!!!

It is very depressing reading this thread as it shows history repeating itself...

We, formerly of Brymon, once worked for a profitable, reasonably content and generally decent company.

Then came the MBAs, Harvard Business school graduates and beancounters and married us to BRAL...a company where employees were used to being treated like !!!!! by managers for whom there was no respect.

So was born CitiExpress.

And, surprise, surprise, whose culture prevailed and which mangers got the top jobs in the airline?

Answer BRAL's.

As a result.....you talk about low morale.....!!! Come and visit us sometime and we'll teach you a thing or two about low morale!

The industry seems to be in the grip of people who do not understand that a company can have both a happy well motivated workforce AND be profitable.

Just what business schools do all these idiots come from which says" Work your staff to the bone, intimidate and bully them into total subservience and as a result wonderful things will flow for you and your shareholders"?

Read any Autobiography of any industrial giant and you will learn that generally they were respected and liked by their workforce and thereby the best was brought out in them.

Clearly Barbara was within that league and the idiots who lost her will doubtless have plenty of time to regret it at their leisure......

And, yes, my application is still in with EJ and I will happily accept any job offered!!

Would be sorry to see you go Timbo, but sadly, most of what you say is absolutely correct. I like regional operations and swap lifestyle for a few more bucks - but maybe not for much longer.
If TDLF tells me once more things are getting better, or goes on about the light at the end of the tunnel - I shall have a sick day off due to stress caused by hysteria!:eek: :eek: :eek:

theGypsy,

I am sorry to hear you are working so hard.

I think you may recall having a "ding dong" with me on hear last year, after I had been abused by an arrogant easyJet captain in interview. You seemed to think that easyJet was ACE then!! I told anyone who would listen that I was unimpressed with them, and that I would rather face redundancy with jmc than than move to eJ. You called me horrid nasty names then too. Just like you do now with Seriph!

I wasn't made redundant by jmc and have moved to a better paid job since then. I am happy I never joined eJ is all I can say. More haste, less speed chaps. It can pay well.

I genuinely hope that things improve for you all there, however there has been a HUGE amount of smugness and "holier than thou" from eJ pilots on these pages in the past.......

Lets hope you learn from that.

However, theGypsy you should look at yourself and what you call people. It seems that you can be a touch blinkered.